The New BMW M4 CS Packs 454 HP, Sits Below Hardcore GTS

Unveiled at the Shanghai Auto Show, the BMW M4 CS slots between the M4 Competition Package and the range-topping M4 GTS

The BMW M4 GTS is the hardest the F80 generation will go on the road. Just a shade over 800 have been produced, featuring the world’s first water injection system, more power, a factory fitted roll cage, and a carbon fibre front lip that sticks out so much that it makes the sports car almost unusable on public roads. And it costs almost twice the standard M4. But from behind the wheel, it is said to be a world apart from the standard model.

It’s easy to fall in love with the M4 GTS, but its more of a collector’s piece; a M4 that’s meant to share air-conditioned garage space with other exotics. Its the M4 meant for wealthy collectors who want the legendary brand in their priced collection, but for whom the standard car simply isn’t exotic enough.

For the rest of us wanting an ultimate M4, we’d have to settle for the new M4 CS. Unveiled at the 2017 Shanghai Auto Show, the BMW M4 CS slots between the M4 Competition Package and the range-topping M4 GTS. Even though BMW hasn’t gone into specific production numbers, it’s believed that production of the M4 CS will be capped, as the special edition will be manufactured only until the middle of next year.

The CS now becomes the most potent M4. The 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged inline-six engine has been massaged to deliver 454 hp and 600 Nm of torque; 29 hp and 50 Nm over the standard M4’s outputs. The CS’s output are also 10 hp and 50 Nm more than the M4 Competition package’s outputs. Just for the record, the M4 GTS produces close to 500 horsepower; 493 hp to be specific.

GTS inspired weight reduction is also abound the CS, which include the roof, trunk-lid spoiler, diffuser and front splitter all being made from lightweight carbon fiber reinforced plastic. Additionally, new lightweight door trims have been fitted alongside door pull loops. This results in a 32 kg weight saving over the M4 and 10 kg over the M4 Competition Package.

These go-faster enhancements allow the new BMW M4 CS to sprint from a standstill to 100 kph in mere 3.9 seconds (with the standard dual-clutch seven-speed automatic transmission), 0.3 seconds quicker than the M4 Competition Package. The top speed is electronically limited to 278 km/h. BMW puts the M4 CS’s ‘Ring time at 7 min and 38 seconds, which makes it slower than the GTS (7:27.88), but just as fast as the Porsche 991 Carrera S.